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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Irish Cupcakes!

This blog post requires a preliminary warning:

***This is not a typical I Make Good Food post in that it is NOT a healthy recipe. We are talking two sticks of butter, people!

With that being said, I don't believe it is realistic to say one will never eat candy, real ice cream, or fried chicken. Even us dietitians, whose purpose in our professional life is to advocate healthy living. We are all mere mortals and deserve to indulge every now and again. I try my hardest to make good food choices more often at meals which allows me to enjoy treats like these Irish cupcakes without feeling ridden with guilt. 'Indulge in moderation' is my mantra. And the great thing about this recipe is that it's a cupcake-- that means they're pre-portioned for you in an adorable little cup of cakey goodness! Just stick to one cupcake and you'll be golden. With cupcakes, you'd have to make a conscious decision to over-indulge (eat more than one) whereas slicing a hefty piece o' cake is a little too easy to do!

Now stop EVERYTHING you are doing and pay attention very closely! This is by far the best tasting thing I have ever and possibly will ever blog about. Let me say that one more time to reiterate, this is my BEST post yet!! I was handed this recipe about a year ago from my boss who found it on a blog (Baked By Rachel) and I put it aside and life went on. With St. Patrick's day right around the corner, I thought it'd be a perfect time to dust it off and try it out. They are "Irish" cupcakes because they are made with Guinness Stout and Bailey's Irish Cream. I did make a few minor changes to make it my own, but feel free to check out the blog post on Baked By Rachel to see the original recipe (and many others)! ***Also, the beer is cooked so the alcohol cooks off a bit but the Bailey's frosting is not, with that I wouldn't recommend these treats for small children or pregnant women. A dessert with a Surgeon's General Warning-- now that's a REAL dessert!!

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, combine the Guinness and stick of butter. Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Remove from heat and pour mixture into a bowl to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the yogurt and egg. Mix until combined (it'll be lumpy and dry).

Next pour in the chocolate bear mixture, mix well until smooth. Fill a lined cupcake pan evenly. The batter will yield 12 standard size cupcakes.

I don't have an electric mixer so my batter looks a little lumpier than desired

Bake the cupcakes for 17-21 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean when poked in the center. The time will vary with your oven. I set my timer for 17 minutes, but they looked a little wet, I cooked them for 21 minutes and they were perfect! Remove from the pan to cool.

While the cupcakes are baking, you can make the chocolate ganache filling. Chop the chocolate chips using a sharp knife into small pieces.

Place the chopped chocolate into a heat-safe bowl. In a small sauce pan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer, stirring frequently. Once it's heated, pour it over the chocolate, mixing constantly. Add the butter and Bailey's, mix until smooth. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to cool.

Once the cupcakes are cool, cut a small cone out of the middle of each-- they'll fall apart if they are still warm so be patient (...learned that the hard way). Save the cupcake cone cutouts, they'll be placed back on the cupcakes to seal the ganache inside. After all of the cupcakes cones have been cut, add the ganache to a large plastic bag for piping. Cut the tip off the bag and pipe the ganache into each evenly (a couple tbsp per cup cake). Place the cake cutouts back on the cupcakes and they are ready for frosting.

step 1: cut out a small cone in the center of the cupcake

step 2: pour the ganache into a bag, cut the tip off for piping

step 3: add the ganache to each cupcake evenly

step 4: place the cone cutouts back into the cupcake for frosting

Now for the homestretch! Using a hand mixer (manual, electric or kitchen aide will do) cream 1 stick of butter until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. If you like the frosting a little less sweet (like myself), use just 2 and 1/2 cups rather than 3 cups-- taste test and add more sugar as desired. Once the sugar and butter is blended, add the Bailey's 1 tbsp at a time. I thought this yielded more than enough frosting for 12 cupcakes and I thought I used the frosting pretty liberally. Top the cupcakes as fancy as you'd like. If you really want to jazz them up, add a little green food coloring to the frosting! Have fun with it and Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!